The Athens Blur Magazine is an eight issue/year variety publication based in the “Classic City” of Athens, GA. Music is our specialty, and we pride ourselves on wide ranging coverage of local, regional and national artists of almost every genre, as well as objective criticism and commentary on all sides of the industry.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Jay-Z: The Reigning 'Cash King'

A hard knock life is something rapper Jay-Z should know nothing about, especially since he has topped the list of this year’s Forbes’ Hip Hop Cash Kings.

Hova reportedly raked in $35 million from June 2008 to June 2009.Much of the money came from his partial ownership of the New Jersey Nets basketball team and the strip club/sports bar he owns called 40/40 located in New York.The rapper took a 57 percent pay cut compared to last year’s total income, but this is mostly because of the $150 million deal Jay-Z signed with Live Nation last year.

As for the rest of the list, P. Diddy came in second earning $30 million mostly due to his own brand of premium vodka and the Sean John clothing line.

The Glow in the Dark tour and the 808s and Heartbreak album helped Kanye West sky rocket to the number 3 spot, pulling in $25 million for the year and 50 Cent ranked at number 4 making $20 million.50 had many promotional deals that helped boost his wallet including deals with Vitamin Water, his G-unit clothing line and licensing deals that included a video game.

The Forbes’ list made it blatantly obvious that one of the keys to riches in the rap game is to not rap at all.Producers such as Pharrell Williams who earned $16 million and Timbaland who earned $17 million made the list, but the bulk of their cash flow came from accessory lines and film production.

At least one of the rappers earned their dough with the talent that brought them to fame, rapper Dr. Dre came in at number 11 earning $13 million, which came mostly from royalties from classic albums such as The Chronic.

-Jessica Cole

Currently Listening to:“Destiny” by Zero 7

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